Introduction

Among the many notable outcomes of the 2010 federal election was the election of a Democratic Labor Party (DLP) candidate, Senator John Madigan. The DLP has not had a member in the federal Parliament for almost forty years; at the height of its representation in 1970 the party had five senators. At the 1974 double dissolution election all five DLP senators failed in their bid for re-election.

This paper provides a brief overview of the creation of the DLP, its aims and objectives, and its electoral support and representation in federal and state Parliaments.

The Democratic Labor Party emerged from the split in the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the 1950s. The DLP was created because of opposition to the perceived extent of communist influence in the union movement and on the defence and foreign policies of the ALP in the 1950s.

At Australian Labor Party (ALP) conferences in New South Wales (1945), Victoria (1946), South Australia (1946) and Queensland (1947) Industrial Groups were established to support ALP candidates running against Communists in union elections.[1] The Industrial Groups worked closely with Catholic trade unionists through their organisation, the Catholic Social Studies Movement (the Movement), led by B A Santamaria, to fight communism.

In 1954 Dr H V Evatt, leader of the federal parliamentary Labor Party accused certain Labor members, particularly those based in Victoria, of being disloyal to the Labor movement and the Labor leadership, and also accused the Movement of being behind the group of dissidents.[2] When divisions in the party culminated in the expulsion of the Industrial Groups at the Hobart ALP conference in 1955, supporters of the Industrial Groups formed the breakaway ALP (Anti-Communist)—an event known as ‘the Split’. The breakaway party was renamed the Democratic Labor Party in 1957.

The principal objective of the DLP was to keep the ALP out of office until the ALP faced up to the Communist threats that the DLP perceived existed in domestic and foreign affairs. The party also pursued Catholic social policies and opposed ‘permissiveness’. It has been asserted that under the intellectual guidance of B A Santamaria, the party strove to fight communist influence in trade unions and with the support of some sections of the Catholic Church, it battled against communism and the ALP. Party leader Senator Gair said:

All social and domestic policies, no matter how progressive, are not worth the paper they are written on unless this country has adequate defences and is guided by a realistic foreign policy.[3]

The new party aimed to reform the ALP’s policies and to expunge the `pro-communist’ influence in the ALP by denying it government through directing its preferences to the Liberal and Country parties’ coalition:

To create a public awareness of the communist threat to Australia and to win support for policies essential to our survival as a free and independent nation; To erect a road block of DLP votes across the ALP’s path and so deny it the fruits of office; [and] To wage a war of attrition against the ALP and so compel it to break its communist connections and again become the acceptable alternative Australian Government it once was, or to force it to make way for a Party fulfilling this requirement.[4]

The split spread from the federal level to states, in particular, Victoria and Queensland. In Victoria the ALP lost the ensuing election and power for 27 years. In Queensland, the breakaway Labor members, including the Premier and most of his cabinet, formed the Queensland Labor Party in 1957. A total of fifty-one parliamentarians, including 14 ministers and a State Premier, lost their seats in various state elections following the Split. The repercussions of the Split were limited in New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. By 1958 the DLP possessed a nationwide organisation covering all States except Queensland, where it formed a close alliance with the Queensland Labor Party until their merger in 1962.[5]

It has been claimed that the DLP was pivotal in keeping Labor in opposition federally in Australia from 1949 to 1972. The DLP was the first significant minor party to emerge in Australia since preferential voting had been introduced. The DLP recommended to its supporters to give preferences to the anti-communist Coalition, and for many years Labor leads on first preferences were reversed as DLP preferences helped elect Coalition MPs. In 1958 the Liberals held 16 seats on DLP preferences, 24 seats in 1961 and 17 in 1963.[6] At the closest possible federal election in 1961 it was DLP preferences that saved the Coalition: the Menzies Government was re-elected with 62 seats to Labor’s 60.[7]

In 1978, DLP branches in all states, including Victoria, voted to dissolve. In Victoria, the vote passed by a few votes and 14 voters were found to be concurrently members of other political parties. Three-quarters of the Victorian branch’s executive rejected the vote and continued the party in that state. In 1986, unions previously affiliated with the DLP—but unaffiliated since 1978— re-affiliated with the ALP. The DLP formed state parties in Queensland (2007) and New South Wales (2008) with a view to registering for and contesting state and local elections.

From the early 2000s, following changes to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 relating to party membership, the DLP had to battle to remain registered as a political party. The electoral changes required parties to have 500 members and to supply names and addresses to the Australian Electoral Commission. [8] Following a unanimous High Court ruling in 2004 that the electoral changes were constitutional the DLP was forced to hand over its membership lists.[9]

More recently there has been an ongoing debate over who heads the Victorian state party. Long term state secretary, John Mulholland, has disputed the election of Kevin Butler to the position of state secretary at the party’s state conference in October 2009. This dispute has been detrimental to the party’s finances, membership and electoral chances.[10] In July 2010 the Victorian Supreme Court issued a court order to stop Mr Mulholland claiming to be the state secretary.[11]

The Democratic Labor Party contested federal and state elections from 1955 to the seventies. Appendices A and B provide details of the level of electoral support for the DLP at federal and state elections. The DLP did not completely disappear after 1974 and continued to field candidates in Victoria for federal elections and Victorian state elections.

During the late 1950s and the 1960s the DLP focus was on foreign affairs and defence policies over any domestic policies. The party’s prime concern was combating communism, particularly as it related to the conduct and intentions of communist China and the role it was playing in the region. The party’s alignment of its defence and trade policies with regard to China culminated in a proposal to establish a Pacific Community in which non-communist countries in the region would provide mutual assistance.

The Democratic Labor Party stands for clear and coherent principles of action in which Australian security and political and economic interests can find expression. The paramount principle is that Australia should take the initiative in the formation of a Pacific confederation of nations with similar defence interests and foreign policies and with economies which could complement each other. [12]

The aim was to:

To counterbalance the strength of Communist China and to thwart Communist designs in Asia.[13]

The DLP also advocated that Australia develop nuclear weapons as a deterrent and for retaliatory purposes. In the domestic sphere their policies concentrated on anti trade unionism, state aid for independent schools and decentralisation. [14]

More recently the DLP website claims that the party to be not “left” or “right” but centre-“decentralist”. The party’s stated principles are “democracy”, “liberty” and “peace”. Its stated policies are:

against abortion, euthanasia and the destruction of human embryos

opposition to giving homosexual unions the same status as marriage

“sharing out/decentralising power and resources”

policies and values influenced by Christian thought as to the definition of “decency”

John Mulholland, Senate candidate at the 2004 federal election, described the party as a ‘more traditional party than conservative party, we subscribe to traditional values’.[16] At the 2007 Senate election the DLP branded itself as:

... stands for life, decent family values, a fair go in the workplace and a strong, secure Australia[17]

One commentator described DLP policies as drawing on anti-feminist, antiabortion and anti-stem cell research social conservatism. But their economic policies are left of centre as they always have been. They are opposed to foreign ownership of real estate and the GST.[18]

In his campaign announcement for the 2010 federal election John Madigan stated that:

I believe that families, farmers, small business and community are vital to our nation’s social and economic prosperity. I am standing for the Senate as a DLP candidate to advance the interests of families, life and workers...[19]

Senator-elect Madigan indicated that his priorities would be tackling drug abuse and continuing to focus on farming and food production.[20] In discussing conservative social policies he has said ‘I’m unashamedly pro-life and for the protection and sanctity of life’.[21] He has indicated that he will not ally himself with either of the major parties, saying, ‘I vote with my conscience and the principles I’ve grown up with. The DLP philosophy is to judge people and policy on their merits’.

The DLP has not won a seat in the House of Representatives at a federal election. The introduction of proportional representation (PR) electoral system for Senate elections in 1949 had undoubtedly aided the DLP’s ability to gain representation in the Senate. While the DLP found it almost impossible to win seats in lower houses, using preferential voting systems, because its vote was too thinly spread it is argued that the use of PR in the Senate, and many of the State upper houses, provided the prospect of parliamentary representation.[22] Parliamentary seats are easier to win in a PR election than in a preferential voting election where 50 per cent (plus a single vote) is required. Therefore, minor parties often put more resources into winning seats in PR elections than in those where preferential voting is the voting method. As shown in Appendix A at the 2010 federal election 14 DLP candidates stood for the Senate, while seven candidates stood for the House of Representatives.

Table 1 below lists DLP representation in the Senate from 1955 to the current Parliament. Senator George Cole entered the Senate as an ALP member in 1949 but informed the Senate on 24 August 1955 he would be representing the Anti-Communist Labour Party.[23] He led the party in the Senate until his defeat in 1965. Cole was joined by Senator Frank McManus in July 1956, who became deputy leader. On 27 August 1957 Senator Cole informed the Senate of the party’s change of name to the DLP.[24]

In August 1957 Senator Condon Byrne announced he would be representing the Queensland Labour Party rather than the ALP, but he lost his seat at the 1958 general election.[25] At the 1964 election Frank McManus and Vince Gair were elected for the DLP for six-year terms commencing 1 July 1965. Condon Byrne and John Little were elected at the 1967 election for six-year terms. The party reached its peak representation in 1970 with five senators: Gair, Byrne, Kane, McManus and Little. Senator Gair resigned from the Senate to take up an ambassadorship to Ireland in April 1974 and all the remaining senators were defeated at the 18 May 1974 double dissolution election.

The DLP’s leaders were Senator George Cole (Tasmania) from 1955 until 1965, Senator Vince Gair (Queensland) from 1965 until April 1974, and Senator Frank McManus (Victoria) from April 1974.

For a short period following the 1955 split, seven Victorian members of the House of Representatives, who had been elected as ALP members, sat in the House as the Australian Labour Party (Anti-Communist), led by Mr Joshua (Ballarat).[26] All lost their seats at the December 1955 election.

In 2010 after a gap of almost forty years, the DLP won a Senate seat at the general election with John Madigan winning 2.33 per cent of the primary vote in Victoria. Mr Madigan won the final Senate spot in Victoria following a three-way contest involving Family First Senator Steve Fielding and Liberal Senator Julian McGauran. The DLP victory is partly due to preferences from One Nation, the Christian Democrats and the Liberal Democrats. Mr Madigan, a blacksmith based in Ballarat, joined the DLP in 2006. He is the Victorian State president and federal first vice-president of the DLP.

Appendix A provides the votes for the DLP candidates for both the House of Representatives and the Senate from 1955. The strongest electoral support for the DLP was in Victoria, followed by Queensland. After 1974, until recently, it was only in Victoria that candidates stood and received votes.

Following the 1958 election until the 1961 election the Menzies Coalition government had control of the Senate. In the periods from 1955 to 1958, 1961 to 1964 and 1964 to 1967 it required both the DLP and the Independent senators to vote against the Liberal Coalition government to negate a vote. Between 1967 and 1974 the balance of power in the Senate was held by independent and DLP senators, if the Independent senators had voted with the opposition then the government needed all the DLP votes to avoid defeat on the floor of the Chamber.[27] The DLP senators were able to obstruct much of the legislative program of the Whitlam Labor Government following its election in 1972. The following table gives a breakdown of Senate numbers during the period that the DLP was represented in the Senate.

At its height the DLP had representation in state parliaments as well as the federal parliament.

In Queensland, Labor Premier Vince Gair was expelled from the ALP in April 1957 and within days formed the Queensland Labor Party with the support of most of his cabinet. At the 3 August 1957 state election the ALP lost power after a long period which had lasted from 1915, with a brief intermission during the Depression. The Queensland Labor Party won 11 seats, which was reduced to four in 1960. In 1961 the party changed its name to the DLP and until the 1963 election had two sitting members (two of the four sitting members had become Independents). The DLP had one member in 1963, one in 1966, and one in 1969.[28]

In 1973 the only DLP member of the New South Wales parliament, Kevin Harrold, was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for the seat of Gordon. The sitting Liberal member had failed to lodge his nomination in time, and Liberal voters were encouraged to vote for the DLP candidate.[29] Mr Harrold lost the seat to the Liberal Party at the 1976 election.

In Victoria 12 ALP members from the Legislative Assembly and five members of the Legislative Council formed the parliamentary branch of the Victorian ALP (Anti-Communist) in April 1955. The immediate impact of the Split in Victoria was the demise of the Labor government, led by John Cain snr, at the 1955 election.[30] All but one of ALP (Anti-Communist) members, Mr Scully, lost their seats at the May 1955 election. Mr Scully lost his seat at the 1958 Victorian election. The 1955 election marked the start of 27 years of Liberal government.

The DLP contested the 2006 Victorian state election, fielding candidates in the eight regions of the reformed Legislative Council, where proportional representation gave the party the best chance of having members elected. It polled 1.97% of the first preference vote. However, in two regions it polled higher, with 2.70% in Western Victoria and 5.11% in Northern Metropolitan. This was enough to elect one member, Peter Kavanagh, on ALP preferences in Western Victoria Region. [31]The DLP briefly looked set to have a second member, party leader John Mulholland, elected in Northern Metropolitan, but this result was overturned after a recount.[32]

At the November 2010 Victorian state election, the DLP polled 2.3% of the total upper house vote. Peter Kavanagh failed to retain his seat, and the DLP lost its representation in the Victorian state parliament.

Appendix B provides selected statistics on first preference votes received by the DLP in the Lower House at state elections.

Many Australians, until the 2010 election, believed that the Democratic Labor Party no longer existed or was at best irrelevant. As one commentator expressed it:

Perhaps the most remarkable story one hardly noted in the national media is the return to federal politics of a party most thought long dead. But, rising like a phoenix, the election of Victorian blacksmith John Madigan to the Senate means the Democratic Labor Party lives again.[33]

It will be interesting to follow whether this election to the federal parliament will invigorate the party at other levels. As noted earlier, Peter Kavanagh could not retain his seat at the 2010 Victorian state election. Senator Madigan is replacing Family First Senator Stephen Fielding, a one-term representative. Both Mr Madigan ad Mr Kavanagh have remarked on the lack of media attention the DLP received at the election but they suggest that the party will now become stronger, ‘replacing Family First in the long term ... we will win three or four more seats at the next election...’[34]

It remains to be seen what, if any impact, John Madigan will have in the Senate particularly given that from 1 July 2011 the Greens will hold the balance of power in their own right. However as Mr Madigan has been quoted as saying:

... numbers will change again in three. “The DLP held the balance of power in the Senate for many years,” he says. “History often repeats itself. People have got to be careful because the whole spectrum can change in three years’ time, you never know.” [35]

C Hughes and B Graham, A handbook of Australian government and politics 1890–1964, Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1968; C Hughes, A handbook of Australian government and politics 1965–1974, Canberra, ANU Press, 1977.

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